Process of treating and heating air.



PATENTED AUG. 4, 1908.

G. E. HEssB.

PRGGBss 0F TREATING AND HEATING AIR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1905..

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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'G-USTAF EMIL BESSE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORTO SVEA CALORIC ENGINE p COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Pnocnss oF TREATING AND HEATING AIR.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1908.

Application filed July 8, 1905. Serial N o. 268,802.

To all whom it may concern: E

Re it known that I, GUsTAF EMI'L HEssE, a citizen of Sweden, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating and Heating Air, of which the following is a speciiication.

The invention relates to improvements in processes of treating and heating air for power purposes, such for illustration las for use 1n external combustion engines, the ob'- Ject of the invention being to provide a method for so treating and .heating the air used lfor engines of large powers as well as for engines of smaller size.

In accordance with my invention I so thoroughl that it may be used with advantage for large powers.

Dry air is a poor conductor of heat, and in accordance with the methods heretofore devised for heating air, the process-was too slow for even a moderate volume, without making the size and. weight of engine prohibitive.

The problemsolved by my invention is the rapid, uniform and eEective heating of the air to economically attain the requisite volume and condition for large powers.

In carrying out my invention I force the air,- preferably at several different points,

into a heater within which the cool air is not only in many distinct divisions forced to move over the heated surfaces from which it absorbs heat, but by preference subjected in said heater to the action of steam .by which the movement of the air is accelerated in its passage over the heated surfaces and the air has its heat conductivity increased. The air.A

entering the heater, under pressure, is mechanically divided up because of the construction of the heater itself, but when steam is generated in the lower chamber of the heater and permitted to commingle with and aid in driving the air along, the air becomes enabled to more rapidly absorb the heat from the surfaces over which it iscaused to travel.

I illustrate in this application a novel construction of heater for treating and heating the air, and this heater is made the subject of a separate application, Serial Number 268,803 :filed herewith for Letters Patentjjthelpresent evenly and rapidly heat the air application being confined to the novel methods described irres ective of the special form of apparatus by W 'ch the same may be carried into effect,

The invention will be understood from the description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

` Figure 1 is a central vertical section through a heater embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a top view, partly broken away, of same; Fig. 3 is a detached top view of one pair of the tubes forming a art of the heater; Fig. 4 is a side elevation o the heater of my invention shown in complete operative relation with a double acting engine to be supplied with motive fluid from it, means for forcing air under pressure into the middle cold air chamber of the heater, means for supplying water to the lower water and steam chamber of same, and a combustion chamber;- and Fig. 5 is a top view of same.

In the drawings, 10 designates a cylindrical shell constituting the exterior Walls of the heater, and 11 tubes open' at both ends and extending vertically through said shell, the lower ends of said tubes being fastened in the lower end 12 of said shell and the upper ends of said tubes being fastened in the upper end or head 13 of said shell. The tubes 1l constitute flues through which heated combustion products will pass, it being intended that suitable heating means such as a furnace or other form of heater will be located directly below the shell 10 and that the heated air and combustion products therefrom shall pass upwardly through and heat the tubes or flues 11. The means for suplying heat to the tubes 11 may be an oilllurner 40 secured within the lower end of a combustion chamber 41 applied to the lower end of the shell 10 and supplied with oil through a pipe 42 from a tank 43, said burner comprising a' lower plate 44 and an upper perforated plate 45 and having air tubes 46 extending through it. There are a large number of the tubes or flues 1 1 employed and these tubes or flues will preferably be evenly distributed throughout the entire heater, as illustrated. The tubes or ilues -11 have no outlet within the chamber of the heater and their sole purpose is to afford maximum sur faces against Whichlthe air may be caused to travel and from which it may absorb the req uisite amount of heat. Within the shell or casing 10 is provided a partition plate 14 through which all of the ues or tubes 11 pass and the apertures in which are greater in diameter than said tubes and receive the lower ends of tubes 15 which encompass the upper portions of the tubes 11 and are open at both their lower and upper ends. Between the inner walls of the tubes 15 and exterior walls of the tubes 11 are formed narrow annular chambers 16 through which the air is compelled to pass, said air entering the lower ends of the tubes 15 and escaping from the upper ends thereof into the upper or collecting chamber 17 of the heater 5 and the walls of the tubes 15 being in near relation tothe walls of the tubes 11, compel the air in the form of thin tubular sheets to travel directlyT against the tubes 11, these con'lined thin sheets of moving air absorbing heat `from the tubes 11 and also, but in less degree, from the tubes 15. The lower ends of the `tubes 15 are fastened within the apertures in the partition or diaphragm 14, and the up er ends of the tubes 15 are depressed inward y at several points, as shown in Fig. 3, to form lugs 18 engaging the exterior' walls of the tubes 11, thereby centering the upper ends of the tubes 15 with respect to the tubes 11. Immediately below the partition or diaphragm 14 the shell 10 is provided with inlet openings 19, preferably four in number and located at equi-distant points, tor the admission of the air under pressure, the air thus entering the heater below the partition 14 and having its only outlet in the restricted annular chambers between the tubes 11, 15. The air supplied through the openings 19 is led thereto from air-compressors 47 by means of pipes 48,` the air being compressed by means of power supplied by the engine shown, whose cylinders are numbered 49.

Below the diaphragm or partition 14 and also below the inlets 19 for the air to be heated, I provide a horizontal partition 20 which is apertured to permit the passage through the same of the tlues or tubes 1 1, but around its apertures is slightly separated from the exterior walls of said tubes. The chamber within the casing or shell 10 and below the partition 2() may be designated as a water and steam chamber, since within the lower portion of the heater and below the partition 20 I place a suitable quantity of water to protect the lower ends of the tubes 11 from being burned and also to enable the generation ot' a suitable quantity of steam for admiXture with the air during the process of heating thesame. The steam generated in the lower end of the heater has not entirely tree access to the air and can only reach the latter by its passage upwardly through the restricted apertures in the partition 20er through the spaces formed by the loose lit of said apertures around the tubes 11. rlhe water for the water and steam chamber, which is the chamber formed between the partition 20 and bottom 12 of the heater, may be supplied through an opening 3() in said bottom by a pipe 5() leading thereto from a pump 51 driven from the engine shaft and connected by a pipe 52 with a suitable source o'l water supply. The heater thus comprises the heat conducting tubes 11, the tubes 15 tor 'finely dividing the air into thin tubular sheets and compelling the passage ol the same against the tubes 11, the partition 14 forming above it a collecting chamber, and the partition 2() forming below it a chamber lor water and steam and above it and below the partition 14 a middle airychamber for the reception, at the several points, et the air to be treated and heated.

The heated air trom the collecting chamber 17 escapes through an outlet pipe 21 whose lower end is below the upper ends ol the tubes 15 and. whose upper end is adapted to be coupled with a suitable connection to the engine to be driven, as shown in .Figs 4 and. 5 wherein I show the upper end ol the pipe 21 as equipped with a valve easing 53 from which a pipe 54 leads to the chest o'll a double-acting engine.

The method ot utilizing the heater hereinbefore described will be substantially understood from the description already presented. The heater will derive its heat trom any suit able source, and tor small engines will utilize oil as the tuel for the heater, while in the case of large stationary engines coal will be used as the proper tuel. Water having been introduced. into the lower part or water and steam chamber of' the heater and the iire liaving been properly started below the heater, steam will be generated andv passing through the pipe 54 under pressure to the steam chest of the engine will set the latter in motion. The compressors 47 will prelerablybe doubleacting and operated trom the engine and hence with every stroke ol` the engine a quantity of air will be drawn into the compressors from their lower ends and a quantity of the cold air will be forced, under pressure, through the several openings 19 and lill the middle or air-chamber intermediate the partitions 1,4, 20, whence the air in thin tubular sheets will pass upwardly through the annu lar chambers formed between the tubes 1.1,

15 and iinally escape from the upper ends of said tubes 15 and `lill the collecting chamber 17, whence the air may escape through the outlet 21. During the loreed travel of the air upwardly between the tubes 11, 1.5 the steam generated in the lower part of the heater will pass upwardly through the restricted openings inv thc partition 2() and commingle and pass with the air upwardly through the annular chambers 16, this steam facilitating its flow and also im arting to the air the condition of greater eat conductivity, whereby the air may be enabled to more rapidly absorb heat from the tubes 11, 15.

There are several steps in the process described of treating and heating the air which are of great advantage, and the two principal ones relate to the subdivision of the cool air into thin tubular streams and compelling said streams or sheets to move against the heated surfaces, and to the delivery to the air of a limited quantity of steam to increase the heat conductivity of the air and, in the present instance, facilitate the flow of the air over the heated surfaces of the tubes.. In the employment of the heater it is also of advantage that a separate collecting chamber be provided for the heated air, another chamber for the cool air and a third chamber for the water and steam, and a further advantage resides in the fact that the air is delivered into the cool air chamber through several inlets, whereby the cool air chamber becomes lled with the air and the latter becomes evenly distributed to the means by which the body of air is subdivided into thin tubular sheets or streams for passage against the heated surfaces. It should be noticed also that the tubes 15 compel the air in thin layers to pass close against the tubes 11, said tubes 15 so conning the air in thin layers against the surfaces of the tubes 11 that the air is compelled to absorb the heat from said tubes 11.

What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method of continuously producing a motive liiuid for driving an engine, which consists in delivering air under pressure and in a continuous manner into a chamber, delivering steam continuously into. said chamber to thoroughly admix with the air therein, forcing the mixed air and steam under the initial pressure applied to the air from said chamber in the form of numerous confined thin tubes, continued for a suitable distance, into a collecting chamber having an outlet therefrom, and heating said thin tubes of moving mixed air and steam from the inner sides thereof during their passage to said collecting chamber.

2. The method of continuously producing amotive iiuid for driving an engine, which consists in maintaining a body of compressed air and steam in a chamber by a constant supply thereto, forcing the mixed air and steam under 'the initia pressure applied. to the air from said chamber in the form of numerous confined thin tubes, continued for a suitable distance, into a collecting chamber having an outlet therefrom, and heating said thin tubes of moving mixed air and steam from the inner'sides thereof during their passage to said collecting chamber.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York this 7th day of July A. D. v1905.

GUSTAF EMIL HESSE.

Witnesses:

CHAs. C. GILL, ARTHUR MARION. 

